School van company suspended over drunk-driver allegations

LEOMINSTER 
A school van company that employed a driver arrested for driving drunk while transporting a blind student will be on suspension for seven days beginning Monday.

The state Registry of Motor Vehicles suspended all Ride-Rite Medi-Van Co.'s school pupil transportation licenses from Monday until Dec. 3 over the Oct. 17 incident.

On that day, a 15-year-old Clinton student who attends Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown was driven around for hours in a Ride-Rite vehicle by Michael A. Tantillo, 41, of Leominster, who was allegedly drunk at the time. Mr. Tantillo is charged with kidnapping, drunken driving and child endangerment.

In the incident, Mr. Tantillo, who has an extensive driving record in several area communities, including seven prior license suspensions, was allegedly drunk when he picked up the student in Watertown and drove him around for four hours before arriving at the child's home at 8 p.m. — two and a half hours later than normal.

The Registry had a hearing on the matter on Nov. 7, and Registrar of Motor Vehicles Rachel Kaprielian notified the Leominster-based company on Monday of the license suspensions.

The company also will be required to pay $100 per suspended registration for each of the 23 vehicles to be reinstated. The total reinstatement fee will be $2,300.

Even if the company gets its licenses reinstated, it will no longer be driving Clinton students. Superintendent of Schools Terrance P. Ingano said after the incident in October that Clinton Public Schools had terminated its contract with the company.

“As soon as we found out this charge, we let them go,” he said.

Mr. Ingano said he was surprised the company would lose its licenses for only a week.“I thought their licenses were going to be pulled forever,” he said.

The school district replaced the company with Brewer Lowe Village Transportation of Sterling.

In announcing the suspension of the company's licenses, Ms. Kaprielian said the company allowed an unlicensed operator to transport school pupils. She said no credible evidence was presented to the contrary at the hearing, and she concluded that the conduct of the company placed a child in jeopardy in violation of the company's duty to provide safe transportation.

Mr. Tantillo lacked a school bus driver's license at the time of the incident. He was denied the license on Sept. 10 by the Registry of Motor Vehicles after background checks showed he had a record with many motor vehicle and other offenses dating back to 1988.

“I believe that your conduct as a (school transportation) licensee, in this situation, failed to adhere to the standard of care expected of all licensees and constitutes the reasonable grounds required to be found to suspend your vehicle registrations,” Ms. Kaprielian said in her letter to Ride-Rite.

Ride-Rite, which is owned by Robert Ciccolini of Leominster, was also issued a warning by Ms. Kaprielian in January for allowing an unlicensed driver — not Mr. Tantillo — to drive a school pupil vehicle. The employee was a bus monitor who was offered the route by a dispatcher when a regular driver was sick. Documents from a hearing on the incident indicate the dispatcher was unaware the monitor was not licensed.

Mark Bodanza, a lawyer for Ride-Rite, said the company was notifying several school districts of the suspension so they could find substitute vendors to fill in next week. He said he contacted the Registry of Motor Vehicles and was told Ride Rite is allowed to find substitutes while it is unable to provide its own services.

Mr. Bodanza said the Registry also recommended that the company contact pupils and their families to let them know a different bus company would carry the children for seven days. He said the timing of the Registry's announcement of the suspension makes it somewhat difficult for the company, which was trying to reach school superintendents on the day before Thanksgiving.

While the suspension is at an inconvenient time for the company to make other arrangements, Mr. Bodanza said he believes it is fair.

“Understanding all the facts and circumstances, there had to be some price to pay for it,” he said. Mr. Bodanza said the company has learned from the experience and will be aware of the rules in the future and ensure it is compliant.

The case of Michael Tantillo was continued Monday to Dec. 13 for a pretrial hearing. He continues to be held in lieu of $50,000 cash bail at Worcester County Jail in West Boylston.